Pant scored 66, while KL Rahul and Devdutt Padikkal also put in strong hands with 35 and 44, respectively, as the visitors looked for quick runs in an attempt to seek a result. Meanwhile, Asitha Fernando starred for Sri Lanka with his lethal shortish deliveries taking wickets of several of the Indian batters, while Prabath Jayasuriya picked three, Lahiru Kumara two, and Keshara Nuwantha one.
India started their second innings batting on Day 4 with a lead of 178 already in the bag. Being more than a foot ahead of the hosts in Galle, they played with strong intent and did not sit back idle in the second innings. Pant was the anchor in chief of the innings as he scored his 20th Test half-century and, in the process, also completed 100 sixes in Test cricket, which makes him the first Indian to get to the milestone.
Rahul and Padikkal put up a crucial partnership of 65 for the second wicket after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed in the first over by Asitha Fernando. Rahul treaded with caution before cutting loose to hit two sixes and as many fours in a decent outing. Padikkal was nearly impressive and backed his 167 in the first innings with a fine 44, laced with six fours as he held one end up and looked good.
The strong association was broken when Prabath Jayasuriya got his first wicket of the innings, removing Rahul, caught at deep mid-off. Captain Shubman Gill came but did not survive long enough, falling to Jayasuriya LBW at eight after he hit a four. Pant was measured in his approach in the first session and did not try anything fancy as the visitors ended the opening session 116/4, with a lead of 294.
But the stylish wicketkeeper-batter, Pant, threw caution to the wind in the second session. He unleashed his aggressive avatar and also remained cautious in shot selection, not taking unnecessary risks after lunch. He left short balls and did not go down the ground to off-spinner Keshara Nuwantha, who had dismissed him in the first innings. Instead, Pant chose sweeps and reverse sweeps to counter the turn of the impressive spinner.
He hit a couple of sixes in his innings, both to Lahiru Kumara, with the second one helping him get to 100 Test sixes and also bringing up his fifty. However, he was dismissed a little later on a bouncer from the same bowler. He shuffled for a pull but ended up top-edging it to wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella.
The Sri Lankan fast bowlers used the short ball ploy well, and Kumara later dismissed Ravindra Jadeja with a similar ball as he tried pulling one to deep backward square leg but miscued it to be caught by sub Pasindu Sooriyabandara, who later came in as a concussion substitute for the injured Dinesh Chandimal. Manav Suthar was joined by Kuldeep Yadav, and the left-handed all-rounder belted one four off Keshara Nuwantha, but he too fell to a short delivery; this time, Asitha Fernando found an edge on a short one before Dickwella palmed it.
It did not take long for the hosts to clean the tail up. Jayasuriya dismissed Kuldeep Yadav, caught at slips on five, as the visitors went nine down before Fernando claimed his fourth of the innings, bouncing off Prasidh Krishna on two as India were bowled out for 193, setting a 372-run target.
Brief scores: India 462 & 193 (Rishabh Pant 66, Devdutt Padikkal 44; Asitha Fernando 4-31, Prabath Jayasuriya 3-43) lead Sri Lanka 284 (Sonal Dinusha 100, Niroshan Dickwella 80; Manav Suthar 4-76, Ravindra Jadeja 3-57) by 371 runs.
